I have to write an essay as part of my application for graduate school. It has been anything but fun. The marriage and family therapy program is competitive, and I feel like the essay is the one thing that will get me in since I haven’t been researching with professors and don’t know any that can recommend me. That’s what happens when you don’t go to school for 16 years. How do I try to make myself seem like a person you just can’t pass up while also sounding humble and ready to learn at the same time? I’ve been having a really hard time with it. I also need to mention that a few weeks ago I thought I was almost done until I realized that my 3 page single space essay actually needed to be double space. Cutting an essay in half is equivalent to starting over. So. Not. Fun.
The other day I was working on it while waiting at an appointment. Another person who happened to be a therapist started talking to me. I wasn’t expecting them to truly be interested in what I was doing, but they were and ended up pestering me with questions about why I wanted to be a therapist. He was actually quite relentless in helping me understand that if I didn’t have a good answer to that, and it couldn’t be because I wanted to help people, then I didn’t stand a chance of being accepted. Needless to say, I left the office a few minutes later feeling quite discouraged. Why is it so hard to articulate why I want to do this?
The real answer is that I feel called by God to do it. Does that make me seem crazy? I feel like who I am, what my trials have helped me become, has molded me into a person that could really help people who are struggling to find more peace, joy, and love in their lives. And I deeply want people to be happier. I want people to be at peace with themselves and in their relationships. I want them to learn how to love themselves and others better. I want to help people change their lives by changing themselves. So much of our lives is outside of our control. We can’t control natural disasters, diseases, illness, weather, or other people who affect our relationships, our jobs, and our safety. We control our thoughts, our feelings, and our behavior. That’s it. There will always be external factors that can affect our lives, but when we recognize and harness our own power, we have the ability to find peace, joy, and love no matter what.
Work In Progress 